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Stamps wanted

WRG Stamp Bank is alive and well and continues to raise money for canal restoration. How it works is simple we collect items which can be sold for cash or exchanged for goods, either for direct use or to sell on.

What do WRG collect?

Stamps (when the stamps have been sorted they go to the Shropshire Union Canal Society to help fund work on the Montgomery Canal)

Aluminium i.e. cans & foil (when sufficient has been amassed the aluminium is transported to York, where the Pocklington Canal Amenity Society has an arrangement with a local scrap dealer who is prepared to pay for what, to him, are small quantities)

Coins & banknotes (If current, these can be collected together and sold to someone visiting the appropriate country. If old, they can be sold to dealers, or as a last resort can be melted down! The main recipient of these is the Chichester Ship Canal Trust in Hampshire)

Old mobile phones (for funds towards the restoration of the Wilts and Berks Canal Trust)

How much is raised?

This is difficult to answer, as much material goes to canal societies to add to what they collect themselves. The target for stamps is £1000 a year and Stamp Banks aluminium contributes a reasonable proportion of the £400-500 a year made by PCAS. Items of goods can be used can be used as sales items of raffle prizes to indirectly add to a canal societys funds. Toner cartridges vary tremendously depending on type, but some can realise as much as £5.

Who benefits from Stamp Bank?

The main recipients have been mentioned, but in recent years projects such as the Foxton Inclined Plane Trust, the Buckingham Canal Society and regional WRG groups have received donations in cash or kind. Although were not talking Heritage Lottery Fund millions, Stamp Bank makes a valuable contribution towards various schemes running costs which would otherwise have to be found from elsewhere. Thank you to all, known and anonymous, who have contributed in the past and all future contributions will be most welcome.